Controlling means for farm-lighting plants



T. MONK CONTROLLING MEANS FOR FARM LIGHTING PLANTS Filed April 11. 1922 v 1 4 WWW? W i Z vvw 0 Wm w, My w/ w M M-reu Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES TRAVIS KONK, O1 CRETE, ILLINOIS.

CONTB.OLLING HEARS FOB I'm-LIGHTING PLANTS.

- Application fled April 11, 1922. Serial Io. 551,742.

To all whom it may'co'rwern: Be it known that I, Tnavrs Moran, a citi- I -zen of the United States, and a resident of Crete, county of Will, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful-Imrovements in Controlling Means for Farmighting Plants, of which the following. is a specification.

. My invention relates to controlling means for farm lighting plants, and has for its principal object the rovision of an automatic control consisting of a number of resistance coils thrown into circuit with the main circuit wires of the lighting system when the voltage or amperage increases to a degree greater than the lamps of the system can withstand.

This contemplation of the invention is of reat importance, especially in view of the act that the controlling means prevents the lamps, connected in parallel, from burning out should one of the lamps be thrown out of service by burnin out or by-any other Way, and the contro ling means preserves the life of the lamps by varying the voltage or amperage according to the de es required to make the lamps servlceab e.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.-

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompan ing drawing forming a art of this speci cation, and in which the gure illustrates a diagrammatical plan view of the invention.

Referring to the drawin 6 indicates a generator or other means 0 electrical supply and 7 and 8 indicate the mam c rcuit wires leading to lamps 12, which in this instance, are connected in parallel. The shunt system-controllers are indicated by A and consist of magnet relays 9 10 and 11, each built to respond to a higher voltage than the preceding, and provided with sprmg armatures 9', 10' and 11 respectively, and connected in circuit with the sup 1y wires 7 and 8 by circuit wires 12 an 13 and thrown into circuit therewith by a master magnet relay 14 having the usual spring armature 1 The voltage control of the supply circuits comprises resistance coils 15, 16 and 17 connected in circuit with the main circuit w1res by shunt wires 18, 19, and 20, respectively,

.wires', the core of the master relay each being controlled by the magnet relays9, 10 and 11 respectively.

To clearly bring out the advantageous operation of the system assume that each of the lamps 12 are 100-watts each, consuming 10 amperes at 10 volts and assume that the first lamp connected in parallel has burned out. When this has happened, the voltage across the main circuit wires will be caused to suddenl increase, and such increase will energize t e magnet relay 9 sufliciently so that the armature 9 of the relay will be drawn toward the core 9" of the relay 9, and the current will be diverted through the shunt wire 18 passing through the resistance co l 15, which reduces the voltage to the required degree, and then through the shunt wire 19 to the main circuit wire 8. Should the voltage still increase, the magnet rela s 10 and 11 are brought into action and the current is diverted through the resistance coils l5 and 16 or through the resistance coils 15, 16 and 17, as the case may require or accordlng to the amount of increase in the voltage. While I have cited the burning out of one of the lamps for an example to illustrate the operation of my system, the variation of the voltage is substantially the same when the increase becomes too high for the lamps to withstand, and hence it is obvious that the burning out of one of the lamps will not be the only medium through which the resistance coils are brought into play to vary the degree of the current required by the lamps.

The magnet relays 9, 10 and 11 are thrown into circuit, as herein stated by a master relay 14 and the operation is such that when the current passes through the main circuit is energized and draws the armature 14 toward it and closes the circuit between'the mentioned relays and the main circuit wires, and when the current ceases to pass through the main circuit wires, the relays 9, 10 and 11 are thrown out of circuit by the master relay 14.

In addition to the resistance coils 15, 16 and 17, I also incorporate in the circuit control coils 22, 23 and 24 connected in circuit with the shunt wires 18, 19 and 20 by conductors 25 and 26. These resistance coils 22, 23 and 24 are. each built to stand a greater current than the receding and are thrown into circuit with t e shunt wires by magnet relays 27,28 and 29 each'having the usual spring armatures 30'. The operation of these last named resistance coils is substantially the same as that above detailed with respect to the resistance colls 15, 16 and 17 and are only brought into operation under certain conditions as will be readily understood by the following statement. To bring out the advantageous operation of the resistance coils .22, 23 and 24 which I preferv to term secondary or auxiliary resistance coils, let it be assumed that the current 1s 1ncreased to such a degree that the resistance coils 15, 16 and 17 are not capable of carr ing the current. Under these conditions the cores of the magnet relays 27, 28 and 29 become magnetized and the armaturesof the cores are drawn into contact therewith throwing the secondary resistance coils into circuit and thereby relieving the resistors 15, 16 and 17, respectively, when the current through the latter-increases beyond its current carrying capacity as established by the relays 27, 28 and 29. In connection with the coils 22, 23 and 24 it 1s apparent that the current will take the path of the least resistance and under normal conditions these coils are inoperative; but when the current becomes greater than the carrymg capacity of the resistors 15, 16 and 17 as established by the respective relays 27, 28 and 29, then the auxiliary resistors 22, 23 and 24 are connected in circuit.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrymg my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be hmited to the precise details of construction set forth, but

desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an electrical system, the combination with a su ply circuit, resistance elements connect circuit for controlling the current passing therethrough, relays energized in accordance with a characteristic of the current in said supply circuit for controlling the respective resistance elements, resistors arran ed to be connected in shunt, respectively, to t 1e resistance elements, and relays energized in accordance with the current flowing through said resistance elements for conin circuit with said supply trollin said resistors, substantially as describe:

2. In an electrical system, a supply circuit, resistance elements connected in circuit with said supply circuit for controlling the current passing therethrough, relays energized in accordance with a characteristic of the current in said supply circuit for controlling the respective resistance elements, a shunt circuit, and a series of resistors incorporated therein and arranged to be connected in shunt, respectively, to the resistance elements, and means for controlling said resistors, substantially as described.

3. In an electrical system, a supply circuit, resistance elements connected in circuit with said supply circuit for controlling the current passing therethrough, relays energized in accordance with a characteristic of the current in said supply circuit for control- 1mg the respective resistance elements, resistors arranged to be connected in shunt, respectively, to the resistance elements, and relays for controlling the resistors, substantially as described.

4. In an electricalsystem, a supply circuit, resistance elements connected in circuit with said supply circuit for controlling the current passing therethrough, relays energized in accordance with a characteristic of the current in said supply circuit for controlling the respective resistance elements, a series of resistors arranged to be connected in shunt, respectively, to the resistance elements, and relays energized in accordance with the current flowing through said resistance elements for controlling said resistors, substantially as described.

5. In an electrical system,asupply circuit, resistance elements connected in circuit with said supply circuit for controlling the current passing therethrough, magnet relays incorporated in the supply circuit and energized in accordance with the characteristic of the current flowing therethrough for controlling the respective resistance elements, each succeeding magnet rela being built to withstand a higher current t an the preceding one, resistors arranged to be connected in shunt, respectively, to the resistance elements, and relays energized in accordance with the current flowing through said resistance elements for controlling the resistors, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

TRAVIS MONK. 

